The Rarely Performed Shakespeare Plays

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.8 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2015

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"As jewels lose their glory if neglected, So princes their renowns if not respected." —PERICLES (2:2:12–13) Every year, theaters across the United States and the world treat us to Shakespeare—which usually means such frequently produced plays as HAMLET, MACBETH, and ROMEO AND JULIET. Some Shakespeare plays, however, are rarely performed today. Why is that, was this always the case, and what is it like to stage those plays now? Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with historian Richard Schoch and two contemporary directors—Stephanie Coltrin, of California's Little Fish Theatre, who directed KING JOHN, and Noah Brody, co-artistic director of Fiasco Theater, which staged CYMBELINE. Taking its title from the words of another rarely seen drama, PERICLES, this podcast explores the changing fortunes of these plays over time—and the theatrical challenges and rewards of staging them for modern audiences. Noah Brody is co-artistic director of Fiasco Theater, which produced Cymbeline in 2011 and, in 2014, at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Stephanie Coltrin is the managing director of Little Fish Theatre in California; she directed King John for Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro in 2013. Richard Schoch is a professor in the School of Creative Arts at Queens University, Belfast. ------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help from Geoff Oliver at the Sound Company in London and Angie Hamilton-Lowe at NPR West in Los Angeles.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:05.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.
0:07.6	This podcast looks at the Shakespeare plays you are not all that likely to see.
0:12.8	We call it Jules Lose Their Glory if Neglected.
0:16.6	And in fact, that quotation is a good way to start our story.
0:20.3	It's from Pericles, a play that you may have seen, but probably haven't.
0:25.3	Every year, theaters across America treat their audiences to Shakespeare.
0:29.5	Though, to be totally honest, what they do is treat their audiences to some Shakespeare.
0:34.6	While there are plays that are produced time and time again, Hamlet, A Midsummer
0:38.9	Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, there are others that you might go years without ever seeing.
0:45.1	In this podcast, we take a look at why that is, and if it's always been the case, whether the
0:50.6	same plays have always been neglected over the centuries. We've invited in directors who recently staged some of Shakespeare's less produced works
0:59.0	and a theater historian who knows about the trends in Shakespeare performance.
1:04.0	This historian is Richard Shook, a professor in the School of Creative Arts at Queens University, Belfast.
1:11.4	The directors are Stephanie Coulterin and Noah Brody.
1:15.5	Stephanie is managing director of the Little Fish Theater in California.
1:20.0	She directed King John for Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro in 2013.
1:25.8	Noah is co-artistic director of Fiasco Theater, whose production of Symbaline was voted
1:31.2	one of the top ten theatrical productions of 2011 by New York Magazine. It was also produced in 2014
1:38.4	at the Folger. Our moderator is Rebecca Shear. Richard Shook, let's start with you to get a little bit of historical perspective.
1:46.1	Now, we know that King John and Symbaline aren't performed very often today.
1:50.4	But were they ever popular in history?
	...

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